Drinking Games
by dhbPATHWAY1997
Summary: Roderich has been dragged to the pub by Gilbert and co. Now they're playing a stupid game where you answer truthfully, or buy the whole round. And some secrets are worth buying a round to keep... T for sexual themes and minor language; several pairings.


How the hell did I get myself into these situations? These horribly embarrassing, potentially life-endangering, irritating, frustrating, emotionally-turbulant, stupid situations? It was never my fault, nein. It was always Gilbert or Ludwig or Arthur or Vash or even Elizaveta who dragged me to the bar and ordered me a pint, leaving me to glare at it sullenly and sip at it every so often so as not to seem like such a sissy, even if I really wasn't one much for drinking. I'd rather be back at my dorm with my cheap keyboard and half-finished sheet music, or performing for fun at the restaurant down the street from the university that was always happy to have someone at their beautiful grand piano. But occasionally I got drunk. And sometimes I made poor choices, as drunk

idiots are wont to do. Other times, the world just got a little blurry, my mind a little fuzzy, and some words came out of my mouth that I hadn't necessariliy authorized. That was how it was one winter evening at the little German-style pub that my irresponsible friend-slash-mortal-enemy Gilbert Weillschmidt loved so much. I sat at a large booth with Gilbert, his younger brother Ludwig, my other mortal enemy Vash and a few of their friends, Antonio, Lovino, Feliciano, Arthur, Francis and Kiku, who seemed to be even more uncomfortable than I was. While Gilbert and Ludwig had already guzzled down two or three pints a piece and were still perfectly coherant, and Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, Francis and Vash drank an ample amount of alcohol themselves, a slight flush rising in their cheeks, Kiku and I just kind of sat there, glancing unsurely at the pints in front of us. I'd managed to take a few swallows without too much distaste, but poor Kiku took one small sip of his drink and looked ill.

"Not your kind of thing?" I'd asked him as soon as he hurriedly sat down the heavy glass.

"Er, no. Not really," he admitted. "I'm only here because Feliciano asked me to come, actually. I was going to be alone tonight." He said that like he would have preferred lonliness.

"Ah, but wouldn't we all have been?" purred Francis, sloshing his drink around in an experienced, sophisticated kind of manner that irritated me. "Lonely, that is."

"Aw, come on, Francis, you?" laughed Gilbert. "You'd probably have three or four girls back at your appartment right now if we hadn't forced you to come with us."

"How could I have refused your invitation, _mon ami_?" he grinned at Gilbert. "I don't get out enough with you and Antonio anymore. And it's kind of a guys' night out, _non_? I couldn't have missed this. Making new friends, drinking 'til we forget what ails us..."

"Bloody git," muttered Arthur, looking as if he was already fairly drunk after only his second drink. "Must you be so smug? It's irritatin', it is."

I just sighed. I'd been drinking with Arthur a few times before, and if he got much more to drink, he'd be dancing on top of the bar to the Spice Girls. And no one wanted to see that but his best friend, Alfred, who was at the doctor with his twin brother, Matthew. The both of them had neglected to get a flu shot, and Alfred had gotten sick, leaving Matthew the only person who could put up with his whining enough to take him to see a doctor. And it wasn't even like any of us would get to enjoy Alfred's sickness - whereas other people might catch the flu and stay home, avoiding human contact for a few days, Alfred would be back up on his feet tomorrow, pestering us about video games and greasy food and how "everything is so much better in America!" Knowing his poor brother's luck, however, Matthew'd be the one in bed for days after catching it from Alfred. Then everyone would seem to forget his existence again and he would self-medicate and have to take care of himself until he was better. I didn't mean to sound high and mighty - I would forget about him, too. That didn't mean I didn't feel bad for him.

The pub was almost empty that night. Our table of ten was the largest party in the place, and only two other tables of two and three customers occupied the pub. The other customers were quiet as dust compared to our group, who really didn't seem to know how to shut up or drink responsibly. I turned to Kiku.

"You don't have to drink it," I told him. "I'm not going to drink much more, either. You and I will most likely end up as the designated drivers."

"I don't think there has ever been a time where I have wanted to go home more," muttered Kiku, looking understandably worried. That was something I could certainly drink to - but wouldn't.

"So are we just going to sit here and drink all night or are we actually going to do something?" asked Antonio, taking a gulp of his beverage. "We're twenty-two and on winter vacation. Shouldn't we do something fun?"

"Drinking _is_ fun," insisted Gilbert, smirking. "But okay, what do you want to do?"

"How about we go somewhere fun?" asked Feliciano, not really drunk but still empty-headed. "Like...out for pasta?"

"Sorry, fellas," said the barkeep, coming up to our table and wiping his hands on a towel. "Don't think you'll be able to go anywhere for a while. It's snowing pretty badly out there. Couldn't help but overhear," he shrugged. "Can I get you anything else?"

Feliciano and Lovino groaned, as did Kiku, who was looking absolutely miserable at this point. But Gilbert, Ludwig and Vash ordered more drinks. Of course.

"We can't go anywhere," said Francis, "so let's do something here. Let's play a game."

"Ooh, what kinda game?" grinned Feliciano, and Ludwig rolled his eyes bemusedly.

"Maybe...spin the bottle?" suggested Francis, waggling his eyebrows.

"Hell no! There is no way I'm kissing any of you idiots!" Arthur exclaimed. He looked at Kiku and I, who were completely minding our own business, not contributing in the least to our friends' noise. "Oh...well, you're not ALL idiots, but most of you are! And I'm not kissing any of you!" he repeated, obviously thinking he hadn't been clear enough the first time.

"I'm fine with that," I murmured, propping my head up on an arm. I considered texting Elizaveta. She would feel sorry for me but laugh, too, and make _me_ laugh, which I was definitely in the mood for right now, but she would probably be asleep by now. It was only eleven-thirty, but she'd stayed up until five o'clock last night writing some story that she kept squealing over. Once or twice, she'd squealed and yawned at the time, making a dying-opossum kind of sound that wouldn't have really woken me up if she hadn't been in Gilbert's and my dorm, using our WiFi. I decided I'd let her sleep.

"Well, what about you, Lovino?" asked Antonio, turning to Feliciano's twin brother who sat next to him. "What do you want to do? What game do you want to play?"

"Are you kidding me?" Lovino growled, crossing his arms. "I want to drink myself into a stupor so I don't have to deal with the fact that I agreed to come out here with my stupid _fratello_ and you, bastard."

"Aww, come on, Lovi..." whined Antonio.

"I don't blame him," Arthur muttered, taking another swig. "I'd rather be hallucinating and incoherant than here with you lot." He turned again to Kiku and I. "Again, no offence. I don't mean you two." Kiku and I just shook our heads to indicate partly that we took no offence, but mostly to indicate we didn't care in the least. I'd never really known Kiku very well, only by name and face, but I was finding that we had more in common than I'd have thought.

"Can we just decide what we're going to do?" Ludwig asked, sounding impatient. "Your bickering is killing my head."

"You don't suppose that could be the beer...?" I wondered out loud, sarcastically.

No one looked at me, which was good. If I'd caused a barfight, even one among my "friends", I would regret it very much in the morning.

"All right, all right," announced Gilbert, standing up and knocking into Vash's chair beside him. Vash looked up, irritated, but just moved his chair a little closer to Antonio and continued to ignore the obnoxious albino. "Let's play... Tell Me No Lies - Valentine's Day Edition!"

I looked at Kiku incredulously, who returned my sentiments, and I said to Gilbert, loudly enough so that he could hear, "Gilbert...it's December. It's nowhere near Valentine's Day."

Gilbert paused to think, then shrugged. "Who cares? What else would we talk about but love and sex anyway?" he laughed.

I could feel a migraine coming on.

Everyone else seemed to agree with Gilbert's idea (well, not really Ludwig, Arthur, Lovino or Vash, not to mention Kiku and I, but apparently it was a majority-rules kind of thing), and Gilbert began to explain the rules.

"Okay! All it is is this: I'll ask somebody a question about love or Valentine's Day or something that you can either answer completely truthfully or you'll have to do something. Once they've made their choice, they'll ask someone else a question, and so on."

"So, it's basically Truth or Dare," Arthur grumbled.

"_Nein, nein_, my British...well, companion," Gilbert replied. "I wouldn't tell you to go sing karaoke or prank call someone or anything. _That_ would be a dare. In this case you'll just have to...hmm...buy a whole round of drinks. Got it?"

Some of our group nodded in approval or laughed at the cost of keeping a secret, while others of us grimaced and shrank back a little into our chairs.

"Well...all right, it doesn't sound horrible..." Arthur muttered, but I was fairly sure he just didn't want to have to pay for more drinks.

"I'm asking first!" Gilbert reminded us. He scrutinized everyone around the table before pointing a finger at Vash. "Vash! Tell me!"

"Hmm?" Vash looked up, irritated again.

"Is your sister available?" winked Gilbert.

"What?" exclaimed Vash, standing up as well. "Hell no! She's single, but you go _anywhere_ near her and I will shoot you!"

Gilbert just laughed. "Well, I think he's telling the truth." Vash grumbled a bit to himself as he concentrated once again on his drink. "Nah, come on, Vash, you've got to ask someone else a question!" Gilbert insisted.

Vash looked at him murderously. "Fine..." He slid his gaze over to Feliciano. "You. Have you ever gotten a Valentine's Day card?"

"Huh? Oh, _si_!" exclaimed Feliciano, grinning. "Of course I have!"

"Aww, come on, that was a lame question!" objected Gilbert, putting his hands on his hips.

"You did say it could be about Valentine's Day, _bruder_," reminded Ludwig, taking another sip of beer. "So it's allowed."

"_Verdammt_... You're right," Gilbert muttered, disappointed. "Okay, Feli, your turn."

Feliciano looked around the table, his face a little flushed from alcohol. "Hmm... I choose... Ah! I know! _Fratello_! Do you love Antonio?"

Lovino's face immediately became red as his beloved tomatoes. "What? There's no way in _hell_ I'm answering that!"

"That means you have to buy a round..." taunted Gilbert.

"I don't care! It can't be _that_ expensive! There is _nothing_ that's not worth ignoring that question!"

"Lovi," whined Antonio. "It's not a big question..."

"Of course it's a big question, bastard! And a stupid one, too! I'm not answering it!" Lovino crossed his arms, turning his scarlet face away from the Spaniard.

"Well fine!" France exclaimed. "One round on Lovino!"

Lovino grimaced as he paid for the drinks, the total coming out to a lot more than he'd apparently anticipated. It was with a baleful look at pretty much everyone around the table - most of them casting smug looks back at him - that Lovino took out his wallet and paid for a pint for all ten of us. Two of those drinks, of course, would be entirely left alone, but I guess that wasn't considered in the rules.

"Okay, Lovino, you get to ask someone something now!" said Feliciano, looking at his brother expectantly.

Lovino scowled. "Ugh... Potato-bastard." Ludwig looked at Lovino in surprise.

"_Ja_?"

Lovino's eyes got dangerously narrow as he glared at Ludwig. "I've been wanting to ask this for a long time so I can punch your face in when you say 'yes'. And you _really_ don't want to pay for a round." A small, evil smirk appeared on Lovino's face.

"...What is it?" Ludwig asked, looking a little nervous.

"Do you like _mi fratello_?" The table got quiet, all of us looking at the German and wondering what he would say.

To the surprise of us all, Ludwig answered calmly, "Of course I like him. He's _mein_ friend."

A few of us breathed out, realizing what Ludwig meant. Romano rolled his eyes, irritateed. "That's not what I meant. Do you _fancy_ him?"

Finally understanding, Feliciano gasped. Ludwig blushed furiously.

"Erm...well...uh..._ja_. Next question!"

"Wait, what, Luddy! What do you mean? You like me?" Feliciano asked hysterically.

"_Ja..." _Ludwig looked down, and back into his glass, then took a long gulp. The rest of us looked on awkwardly, waiting for one of them to say something.

Feliciano blushed, and I knew it wasn't due to the alcohol he hadn't really been drinking much of. A small, timid but happy smile formed slowly on his face. He stood up and took Ludwig's arm, dragging him away, saying, "Ludwig, we need to talk..."

"Hey!" Lovino called after them. "I haven't gotten to kill the bastard yet! I _knew_ you liked him! You touch him and I'll kill you! I'll do it!" Antonio gently forced Lovino to sit down. We were all quiet. Drunkenness plus the suddenly awkward atmosphere made us all tense and quiet, or, like Kiku and I, continued to make us tense and quiet.

Arthur broke the silence. "Well. That was...well."

_"Oui..." _murmured Francis in agreement, still watching the door to the mens' restroom where Feliciano had taken Ludwig.

I was hopeful, then, that with the new apparent lack of the group's ability to speak, we could stop this ridiculous game before it got out of hand. If that wasn't the case, I at least hoped that the roudier of the group would forget my existence and let me sit quietly with the beer I didn't want.

Plan A didn't pan out. "Hey...Ludwig's gone...so someone else has to ask a question..." Gilbert realized and I sighed. "Well all right, I'll go again!"

"Hold on, bastard, why do you get to go again?" Lovino asked, agitated. "I don't care much, it's just unfair."

"Because I'm awesome. Duh," Gilbert chuckled. "All right... Francis! Answer me this!"

"_Oui, mon ami_?" Francis smiled suavely.

"Are you, or are you not, dating Alfred's brother Matthew? And if not, can I have him?"

"Ah, that is two questions, Gil. But because you're one of my best friends, I suppose I'll answer them both: _oui et non_." The rest of his friends, in their drunken state, were confused, and he smiled a little wider as he explained, "_Oui_, we are dating. We have been for a couple of months. _Non_, you cannot have him. We are," he chuckled conspiratorily, "quite exclusive."

"What!" exclaimed Arthur. "Does Alfr'd know?"

"Er..." Francis looked guilty. "Well...non. Next question!" I sighed. "Oh, I know. Arthur, since you're so willing to talk, and about Alfred, here's your question."

"Oh, bloody..." Arthur murmured, taking a swig of his drink. "All righ', what?"

"If you were going to kiss anyone in the world right now, who would it be? Remember, no lying..."

"Ugh..." Arthur put his head down on the table. He covered his head with his arms. He murmured something that none of us heard.

Francis looked at Gilbert and Antonio, who shrugged. "Ah, what was that?"

Arthur muttered whatever it was again.

"Er..._mon ami_, we can't understand-"

"BLOODY ALFRED, ALL RIGH'?" yelled Arthur, standing up. "If I coul' bloody kiss anyone, it'd be Alfred! Happy?"

Antonio, Gilbert and Francis chuckled. "Told you," sniggered Gilbert.

"Ugh," groaned Arthur, sitting back down and taking another gulp of alcohol.

"Your turn!" sang Francis, ignoring the fact that only he and Gilbert and Antonio even cared about the game anymore. But Arthur complied.

"Fine! Lovino! You - d'you love Antonio?" he grumbled, only half-conscious by the looks of it.

"Hey, no fair!" cried Lovino. "That question's already been asked, avoided and paid for!"

"I don't know, Gilbert, what do you think?" Antonio asked giddily. "He should have to answer it, right?"

"Shut up, tomato-bastard!" barked Lovino. "You don't get a say!"

Gilbert put his hands on his hips, looking superior and I rolled my eyes. "I decree... You should have to answer the question!"

"What? You don't get to just choose, bastard!"

"Sure I do!"

"On what grounds?"

"I am the awesome Gilbert!"

"That's not a reason!"

"Jus' answer teh bloody question!" demanded Arthur.

We all looked curiously at Arthur, but not for long, because then Lovino spoke. "Look. When I answer, we don't talk about this until later. You won't be werid about it. Got it?" he spat at Antonio.

"_Si, si_, I agree."

"All right..." Lovino sighed. "Yeah. I love you. _Ti amo_, bastard. Okay? Moving on?" His face was completely red as he tried to take another drink and ignore the rest of us.

"Aww... Lovi!" cried Antonio, sitting down next to him and wrapping his arms around the Italian's shoulders. "You love me? You're so sweet! _Te amo_! I love you, too!"

"Get off me!" protested Lovino, but he didn't seem very serious about it, and Antonio didn't listen anyway.

I sighed. I was getting bored with this game. I'd never been too terribly interested, just worried that someone would ask me a question, but now I was especially disintereseted. Already Feliciano and Ludwig had abandoned the group to do _Gott_-knows-what in the restroom, Lovino and Antonio had pretty much just become a couple, Arthur had confessed his love for his best friend and apparently passed out, and France had admitted to dating Alfred's brother.

"Do you think they've forgotten about us?" Kiku asked me hopefully.

"I think so," I responded. "We won't-"

"All right, my turn again," announced Lovino, uncaring, just trying not to explode, it seemed. Antonio was rubbing his head on Lovino's arm, making his hair stick up in strange directions, and Lovino didn't look too happy about it. "Who hasn't gone...? Oh. Kiku. Um, are you dating the Greek guy? Heracles? I heard someone say you two were an item."

Oh, the irony. Poor Kiku. His face was beet-red as he shook his head frantically. "No! No, Heracles-kun and I are _not_ a couple! No!"

"But you want to be, don't you?" asked France, winking.

"No!" Kiku cried. "I mean, _hai_, yes, but no, and...I-"

"He doesn't have to answer a second question!" I finally spoke up. "That's not fair! No one else was forced to!"

Francis and Gilbert gave me a very interested look.

"Roderich!" Gilbert smiled. "I didn't know you and Kiku were so close."

"We're not, really, but I'm just being fair," I insisted.

"Well, all right, but you do realize that you're the only one who hasn't answered a question yet, right? Kiku just needs to ask."

Kiku's eyes widened, and he looked between Gilbert and I nervously. Then he looked more determined. "No. Roderich-san doesn't want to answer a question, so I won't ask one."

"_Danke_, Kiku," I acknowledged, and he nodded with a small smile.

"Fine, then I'll ask you a question," Gilbert retorted. "Remember! Answer, and answer truthfully, or you're ordering another round!"

I groaned. "Gilbert, you know you're an _arschloch, _right?"

"But I'm the awesomest _arschloch_ you've ever seen!" he grinned. "Now, tell us: are you gay?"

The question shocked me, so much that I just spit out the answer. "_Nein_. No, I'm not gay. Why would you think that?"

Antonio, Gilbert and Francis looked at each other. "Really?" asked Francis. "You're not?"

"_Nein_! Is it really so hard to believe?"

"Well...kind of," he admitted.

"Then who do you like?" exclaimed Gilbert, looking thrilled at his discovery.

"You can't ask two questions," I snapped. "And I wouldn't answer that one anyway. I may have only had a few gulps of alcohol tonight, but I do not trust myself with that kind of information!"

"Oh, come o-o-on!" whined Gilbert. "I've been so sure you're gay for years! This is shocking, world-rocking news! You've got to give me this!"

"No way," I replied, crossing my arms.

"Come on!" he repeated. "Fine. Is it Lily?"

"It'd better not be," snapped Vash, speaking for the first time in ages.

"Nein," I growled.

"Bella?" persisted Gilbert.

"Nein."

"Chelle?"

"Nein."

"Elizaveta?"

I paused. _Mein Gott_, I hated myself for it. But I just stopped talking. I couldn't make the word "_nein_" come out of my mouth, and I didn't know why. It suddenly wasn't part of my vocabulary, but my vocabulary was suddenly only consisting of "er," "erm," and "ugh," so that didn't matter too much anyway.

"_Elizaveta_?" Gilbert replied, shocked. "No way! Not Elizaveta!"

"Why? Just because _you_ like her?" I demanded, finding my words again quickly.

"Well of course I find her attractive, but you like her? She's like, your best friend! Whoa! You and Arthur, what are you guys thinking?"

"Someone say ma name?" muttered Arthur, raising his head a couple of inches and then putting it back down in his arms.

"I'm _thinking_," I snapped, "that it doesn't matter that she's my best friend! I still love her!"

"Um...Roderich?" asked a voice behind me.

I paused again, completely still. _No, no, Roderich, you're hallucinating! Don't worry!_, I told myself. _That's the...five mouthfuls of alcohol talking. No worries..._

But then I turned around and saw Elizaveta standing in the doorway of the pub, looking shell-shocked.

"E-Elizaveta?" I exclaimed, blush infiltrating my cheeks and my knees trembling a little. "Wh-What are you doing here? I thought we were snowed in!"

"It's been a while," she murmured. "I was able to walk over here. I woke up about an hour ago, heard the weather report and got worried about you all, so I came here..."

"Ah..." Antonio said awkwardly. "Let's...er...leave these two alone. We'll go find Feli and Ludwig..." He stood up and led Lovino with him, who was already proclaiming loudly all the horrible things he'd do to Ludwig. Francis, Gilbert and Kiku followed along, and Vash got up with a sigh and went over to the bar, where he couldn't hear us.

"Were you...er...talking about...me?" Elizaveta asked, blushing, as she came closer to me.

"It was a stupid game!" I exclaimed. "We were supposed to answer a question truthfully or buy a round, and I just... They asked me if I was gay, and I told them no, and then they asked me who it was that I liked and I wouldn't tell them, and yes, I'm a little drunk," I babbled.

"But, Roderich..." Elizaveta murmured. "You...love me? Like, you're..._in_ love with me?"

I hesitated. "..._Ja_."

Elizaveta gasped a little, taking in a deep breath.

"You - I don't expect you to feel the same way," I tried to assure her. "I'm sorry if I've ruined our friendship, I just... I think you're incredible, and I really hope-"

Before I could finish, Elizaveta crushed her lips against mine, pulling me close to her and wrapping her arms around my neck. I was left, startled, with my eyes open until I registered what had just happened, and I put my hands cautiously on her waist, pulling her to me as well. She smiled, and I kissed her smile happily, loving the way it felt.

She pulled away, keeping her arms around my neck and looked right into my eyes. "I love you, too, Roderich."

I grinned, happier than I'd been in months, and bent down slightly to kiss her again, lifting her off of the ground a little. We stayed in that position for a while, and I felt like I could continue to kiss Elizaveta forever, but then we were interrupted, of course, by clapping, and a loud, "So he's really _not_ gay!"

Elizaveta spun around. "Gilbert, was that you?"

"Uh," he muttered, stepping out into the main pub. "_Ja_... Hi, Elizaveta!"

The others followed Gilbert, including a rather happy Feliciano, shirtless Ludwig and very upset Lovino. Elizaveta looked around at all of us.

"That's it," she decided. "No more drinking tonight. Come on, let's get back to the dorm. It's not that cold out."

Some of the boys groaned a little at the thought of walking out in the snow, but Kiku, Vash and I, of course, did not complain.

Elizaveta and I waited by the door as the rest of the group filed out.

"So...um...are we...?" I tried to ask, but couldn't.

"A couple?" Elizaveta supplied, and I nodded. "Yeah, I think so," she smiled. She kissed my cheek. "Actually, as soon as we get back to the dorm, well..." a wry look and a smirk crossed her face, "Bella's out with Mathias tonight, so my room's empty..."

After that night, Elizaveta and I were a solid couple. Still, several people still asked me, many times, if I was gay, to which I would always reply with a sharp, shocked, "_NEIN_!" But when I thought long and hard about our relationship, and the friends I had, years later, I would always think back to this night, and how the immaturity of Gilbert, Antonio and Francis had really improved my life. Weird, huh? As much as I hated going out with those idiots, who's to say drinking games are always a bad idea?


End file.
